Dog Fight

December 31, 2016

A customer with a disability alleged that a motel refused to reserve a room for her if she was accompanied by her service dog, citing a “no pets” policy. The motel asserted that it tried to give the customer a phone number for another place that allowed “pets,” but the customer objected and ended the conversation. Commission staff found substantial evidence of disability discrimination because the Alaska Human Rights Law does not allow a public accommodation to refuse its services to a person with a disability because the person is accompanied by a service dog. The parties signed a conciliation agreement that required the motel to obtain training for its staff regarding service animals and the laws prohibiting disability discrimination.